SAO: Shippuden
by An Unrelenting Storm
Summary: "Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we do not know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness, errors, and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing. But that is no reason to damn others to a miserable existence."
1. Prologue

_**SAO: Shippuden**_

_**Disclaimer: **I do not own Sword Art Online or Naruto. No matter how much I want to, I do not own these awesome story lines. _

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

**Sword Skill**

_**A/N: **__Another story. Blame my friend, who will not be named, for getting me hooked on so many animes that it is not even funny. Enjoy. Any questions or if you want to beta for any of my other stories then pm me._

_Summary:_ _"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we do not know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness, errors, and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of withering, of tarnishing. But that is no reason to damn others to a miserable existence."_

Chapter 1: Prologue

_"Finally, Humanity has finally been able to create a complete virtual environment. In a game called... _**_Sword Art Online_**_."_ The trailer video was blaring on a large flat screen television, before it quickly shifted to a news-like channel that was completely focused on the game and the impact it was making. _"It's time for this week's MMO stream! We begin with a promotion video. Was this the day of last week's launch? What's with all of the people waiting in line for? I'll tell you what… Sword Art Online!"_

"Link, start." A stressed voice rang out from the noise of the television. Shouting could be heard outside of a huge metal door on his left as he started up the procedure.

There, inside of a large room, with many white walls and flashing lights, stood a boy. A young man with blonde hair around the age of 16 with bright azure eyes and pale skin stood stoically in the middle of the room, staring at the contraption in front of him. He could only pray silently that the start up would finish soon. _He_ would surely hack into the system soon.

**'****Start Up complete, Nerve Gear ready to connect.'**

The boy quickly rushed to the strange helmet-like contraption with flashing green lights. Swiftly, the boy placed the Nerve Gear on top of his golden blonde hair and started going through the necessary checks.

'**Head link, check'**

'**Body link, check'**

'**Hands link, check'**

'**Legs link, check'**

'**Complete Upload, Green.'**

'**Checking complete.'**

'**Log in/Register?'**

'**Language: Japanese'**

'**Account: ******'**

'**Password: *******'**

**Character Creation:**

**Beta test data still available.**

**Would you like to use it?**

**Yes/ No**

Quickly selecting the 'yes' option, the boy rapidly moved to a seat near him in hopes of not falling down when the link began. He only had a few seconds before the door was hacked into. He could not allow this to happen. Even if-

The sound of a metallic door sliding open alerted him to the people who had just entered.

"NARUTO!" A breathless voice rang out.

The boy could only sigh in acceptance as he turned his head slightly to look at the person that had shouted his name.

Blue eyes met gray. In a matter of seconds, a clash of wills had begun.

A rather skinny man with shaggy gray hair, wearing a white lab coat with a well-kept appearance and a computer in his hand, stood at the entrance of the door with four well-built men standing behind him.

Akihiko Kayaba was always known to be a calm and collected individual. He always showed little to no emotion and had even less regard for human life. But right now…he could not afford to be emotionless. Not when _he_ was a few seconds away from death.

"Naruto," he started as calmly as he could, "I will forget everything that you have done up to this point if you will take that contraption off of your head." His nostrils flared slightly, showing that he was trying very hard to control his emotions.

The boy could only shake his head in disappointment and look to the ground. _'Still the same as ever I see?' _He raised his head to look into the eyes of the creator of the hottest game that had just been released: Sword Art Online.

It was the first, and most awaited game of the century, if only by virtue of being the first game to take fully take advantage of the Nerve Gear's Virtual capabilities, Full Dive. Unlike the many subpar and unsatisfying mini games and puzzles that had flooded the market for years before the Sword Art Online had been announced, where one could only walk for barely a few paces before encountering a solid wall and operate within the specified, tiny parameters.

If only they knew what it actually was, then they wouldn't be so eager to enter the virtual world of what was now officially called Aincrad.

"…I don't know what the fuck you were thinking when you chose to follow through with this. I never would have agreed to beta test this…this…this hellhole if I knew what you were planning!"

Dark eyes narrowed dangerously.

"…Naruto." Akihiko growled out warningly. "…Don't make me repeat myself."

Blue eyes burned in anger at the statement.

"I will say this only one more time. Take off that damned Nerve Gear, reset the software, and go back to your bed…you should not be up." The blonde seethed in his spot as the already palpable atmosphere turned for the worse.

"…I'm sorry…but I will not comply with that order." The four guards rushed forward in hopes of subduing the boy, but even with the Nerve Gear placed on his head, the boy still made the formidable opponent.

Rising quickly, he flipped into a handstand as the guards were upon him and promptly spun on his head with both legs straightened out in a split in a show of flexibility and martial arts skill. Naruto winced as he felt the hard bottom of his boots impact with the faces of four innocent guards, just before he flipped upright. The guards quickly went down in crumpled heaps and groaned into unconsciousness.

As he rose to stand on equal footing, Naruto looked into Akihiko's dark eyes once again and just stared. A tense silence followed.

"…"

"…"

"…What the hell gives you the right Akihiko?" a growl rippled from his throat. "You're going to play with the lives of thousands." He said shortly. Kayaba twitched slightly at this remark. He sneered before replying.

"Ten thousand out of a world population of 7.125 billion is hardly a noticeable sacrifice." The man countered. "All of this is for the greater good Naruto. Why can't you see that?"

Naruto snorted.

"You're trying to play God in a world of your own creation," the blonde remarked with disgust evident in his voice. "That is not only twisted but downright disgusting. You cannot simply play God and expect people to allow you." The blonde-haired boy shook his head in disbelief before sending a scalding glare at the young man. "Mom would be ashamed of you."

Gray eyes flashed dangerously.

"Be silent Naruto." Kayaba started. "You are in enough trouble as it is. Stay silent and take off that Nerve Gear. You do not belong in that world."

"I have a right to be there as much as anyone else does," The blonde-haired teen quickly retorted. "Is it because you don't want me getting hurt? You don't want me to partake in this experiment. You don't want me as a puppet. Well let me tell you something, people deserve to choose how they live their live." Naruto was breathing heavily as he began his passionate rant. "That's what makes it their own. You have no right to take that away from anyone."

Naruto paused to take a breath.

"I will not let you hurt anyone. I will guide everyone." The younger Kayaba finally finished. Akihiko merely sighed at his proclamation.

"No you will not." Akihiko barked out. "I made a promise to mom. I promised to love and cherish you to the ends of the earth. I promised her to make sure you never had to grow up unloved and an outcast. I have kept that promise. I have done everything a person could possibly do, so tell me…what more do you want? Why do you seek death?" the man spoke apathetically.

Yet, Naruto stayed steady on his feet. Tears pricked at his eyes as he stared at the man in front of him, the man who had grown up with him. What had happened? Where did the boy who comforted him when he got a scraped knee go? Where had the boy who helped him sleep on restless nights gone? Where was his brother?

'**Log-in complete'**

'**Enter Now?'**

The robotic female voice rang out from the Nerve Gear as many pillars of color erupted in front of Naruto's eyes, blocking his vision of the man before him. Just as he was about to lose consciousness, he focused, and spoke his last words to the man he grew up with for a long time.

"…I want…to save the innocent lives…_you_," he stressed the word, "Are going to put in harm's way…Onii-san…"

The elder Kayaba started running towards his little brother. He would not let him enter the game, but as he did, he could not help but listen to the quiet mutterings of his younger sibling, that soon stopped him in place.

"When the war of the beasts brings about the world's end,

The goddess descends from the sky,

Wings of light and dark spread afar,

She guides us to bliss, her gift everlasting"

Fierce and determined eyes gazed at him as the whirring of the first ever Nerve Gear rang in Akihiko's ears.

"You want to play the corrupt God? Fine…I shall be the hero."

With that, everything disappeared and went to black as Naruto Kayaba entered the world of Sword Art Online, unaffected by the distressed shouting of an older brother crying out for his younger sibling.

***-Town of Beginnings-*  
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In a flash of many lights, Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in the middle of a large dome-like city, which was actually the arrival point for beginner logins to start.

The city was known as the **Town of Beginnings**, a place all new players start when they log into the game for the very first time. It was a nice town with a multitude of shops and social areas for beginners to meet and greet, but Naruto was not interested in that particular action at the present moment.

Naruto looked down at his now fingerless glove-covered hands, clenching them a few times before continuing his gaze up the long, red silk sleeve of his beginning starter set. Strapped to his waist was a simple rapier while on his back was a large circular shield with a crimson spiral neatly stamped on the front of it.

After he finished checking himself over and got used to the configurations, he quickly took off in the direction of the nearest town, scrambling and surging across treetops, hoping to get a big enough lead so others did not have to put their lives at risk.

He was soon running at breakneck speeds with initial signs of tunnel vision starting to appear in his line of sight.

"KYAH!" a shrill scream got his attention and brought him to a halt. He looked over to the side to see a girl wearing a beginning set of armor, being chased down by a **Frenzy Boar (Lv. 2)**. It was safe to say that the girl was a beginner as she did not even have a weapon, or as it seemed, sword skill chosen yet.

Naruto gave a grunt of frustration of having to be sidetracked, but she _was_ one of the 9,999 other players he vow to protect. Making his decision, he leapt down from the particularly tall tree, timing his leap perfectly so that he came down onto the **Frenzy Boar **with his rapier drawn and through the neck of the spawn before it could even squeal in surprise.

As it shattered into little blue pixels, Naruto swiftly put away his rapier and turned his attention to the nearly catatonic girl in front of him.

'_She's beautiful.' _The blonde Kayaba thought to himself. Fair skin, auburn hair, hazel eyes, and a heart-shaped face immediately made his face flush, which deepened to an interesting shade of cherry-red as he looked at her athletic body. _'Gah, mind out of the gutter Naruto. Now is not the time,' _he reminded himself.

Had it been his vision of Sword Art Online, he would be asking her on a date immediately. Alas, it was not his depiction of SAO, but a sick representation of his older bro- no. That man was not his brother anymore. It was now Akihiko's sick and twisted avatar of his godly complex.

Snapping himself out of his funk, he knelt by the girl as she looked at him with innocent and adorable light-brown eyes.

"Are you alright?" he asked the girl. She merely looked between him and the last place the **Boar **had been. Noticing the small gesture, Naruto snapped his fingers in front of her face which startled her into looking back at her savior.

Asuna blushed lightly at the sight of her 'knight in shining armor.' _'More like silk armor,' _she thought. It was true. The man in front of her was in a simple white tunic with black silk pant that tucked into mid-shin high combat boots, all covered in a long red cloak with black flame motifs tracing the bottom.

Despite all this, however, he was still very dashing. Her eyes roamed his lean and muscular body with hazy eyes for several seconds before moving on to his face which made her cheeks flush hotly.

He was no bishonen, but he had a certain boyish charm about him. The perfectly tanned skin and three pairs of whisker marks on his cheeks made him look rugged and outgoing. His hair was bright sun-kissed yellow that seemed to glow in the virtual sunrise, but what truly captivated her were his eyes. Deep azure blue, her favorite color, looked down at her with nothing but concern.

A loud clearing of the throat brought her out of her little state of bliss. Noticing he was giving her an amused gaze, she blinked before finally replying.

"Wh-what did you say?" Not her most eloquent of moments she would admit later on in life.

Naruto shook his head at her behavior a little before a smile made its way to his face. It was times like this that made him smile. Interacting with others, he couldn't see why Akihiko didn't like it.

"I asked if you were okay. So, are ya?"

"Oh!" was all she could say. "Um, yes, I am fine. Thank you for asking." She made a move to get up, but he stopped her with all but a firm raise of the hand.

"Can I ask you question Ms.-"

It donned on her that this teen, no matter how kind or handsome or nice or delici- *ahem* He was still a stranger.

"Asuna," she said curtly. "And yes, you can ask me a question Mr.…" She trailed off as she found herself in the exact same position he had just been moments ago.

Naruto blinked before smiling sheepishly and rubbing the back of his head with his hand, while extending the other out in a handshake.

"Naruto is the name," he said with a big toothy grin, revealing his white teeth. His expression then turned more serious, catching Asuna off guard. "I just wanted to ask, is this your first time in Aincrad?"

Asuna merely gave him a deadpanned expression.

"Well duh," she replied, "the game only came out today you know."

'_Good,' _Naruto thought. _'She's not one of the Beta-Testers.' _He gave a relieved smile, which did not go unnoticed by Asuna, and continued speaking.

"Sorry, dumb question." The blonde haired teen looked up into the sky and gave a worried look as the sun was already in the position of noon. Seeing this, the auburn haired girl mimicked his actions and could see nothing but the yellow sun shining.

The blonde-haired rapier-user then suddenly swiped his hand through the air, causing a white menu screen to appear in front of him. Naruto scrolled to the bottom of the home menu before his hands clenched tightly. Noticing her…friend's tense posture, Asuna gracefully went up behind him and tapped on his shoulder.

Sharp blue eyes turned to regard her and the auburn-haired girl shivered slightly. That look excited her for some reason.

"Asuna-san," he said, gaining her attention which caused his eyes to soften as he took in her lost expression. "Do you know how to play this game?"

Asuna blinked before looking down at her feet, leading Naruto to mentally face palm himself. _'Of course she doesn't know how to play dumbass. Today is opening day, and she doesn't seem to be a beta.'_

"No, this is actually my brother's copy of the game. He had to go away on business so I decided to finally try a game and, if I liked it, buy one for myself." She was brutally honest, already giving two facts of her life without even realizing it.

The blonde Kayaba smiled and started to walk towards a small field. When he noticed she wasn't following, he glanced back and twitched his head a bit, showing the girl that he wanted her to follow him.

"C'mon," he said, "I'll show you a few tips before I move on to the next village."

Not wanting to waste the opportunity, Asuna quickly made to follow the boy who, not only seemed to know a few things, but had also caught her attention. Shuffling up beside him, she held her hands in front of her in a shy way as Naruto walked beside her with his hands casually behind his head. On the inside was a different story. His fist clenched as he was reminded of the sight when he opened his menu screen.

'_I was too late to get you out of here, but I will not let you go on defenseless." _

Naruto gripped the back of his head painfully tight, for if anyone were to look at their menu screen for the log out button, they would be sorely disappointed to find an eerie lack of one.

***-Two Hours Later-***

Asuna placed a hand on her side, panting heavily. Her other hand was tightly wrapped around a beginning rapier which, suggested the reason for her fatigue, and stabbed into the ground ramrod-straight and acted as a crutch for her. _'Geez, this guy is a sadist. He has to be.'_

Said "sadist" was merely standing to the side, giving a closed-eyed, goofy grin and a thumbs-up in her direction.

"Not bad Asuna-chan! Not totally up to my level but it's a start." The girl glowered in his direction before settling into a soft smile. She couldn't have stayed mad at him even if she wanted to. _'Those whiskers of his really are quite adorable.' _

Catching her breath, Asuna stood up and ran over to the spot of her new friend with a wide grin plastered on her angelic face.

"Thanks a bunch for showing those moves and such to me." She spoke gratefully. Naruto merely waved her off.

"It was nothing. After all, who, in their right minds, would let a beautiful girl like herself try to fend for herself without receiving any sort of help?" He winked in a playful manner to which she let out a laugh. She was used to his antics by now.

"Not many people surprisingly enough." Her eyes grew a bit downcast, obviously thinking of a bad experience. Naruto frowned at her expression. Even though he had just met her two hours ago, he still felt close enough to her that he didn't want her to be sad.

Deciding to be bold…deciding to be bolder than he usually was he stepped forward, getting inside her own personal bubble, which caused her head to snap up quickly, and pulled her into a strong embrace.

Asuna stammered into his chest in both surprise and embarrassment. Surprise by the gesture, and embarrassment at the fact she found it a very nice comfort. He pulled away a few seconds later, but still had his hands on her bare shoulders. He gave his famous (and patented he noted) foxy smirk and talked to her quietly.

"If…you ever need anything," he trailed off before backing away and opening his menu. He swiped and pushed several icons before a white pop-up appeared in front of Asuna.

_**Naruto wants to add you as a friend, would you like to do the same? Yes / No?**_

She didn't even take a second to think before she tapped the **'Yes'** icon.

_**You are now friends with Naruto/Asuna**_

The two smiled to each other, before the girl of the duo looked away bashfully. She did not want him to see how her face flushed and increase his already massive ego.

"Well, it's been fun Naruto-kun, but I'd better log off right about now. My dad could be home any minute." The whiskered teen simply nodded, though with a solemn expression. She opened her menu and scrolled to the bottom of the page, Naruto frowning all the while, but frowned in confusion when she found something odd.

"Ano, Naruto-kun," she started with a questioning tone. Naruto sighed. 'She found it out then.' "Isn't the log-out button usually at the bottom of the page?"

Naruto feigned confusion and opened his own menu.

"It should be right-." He gave a faux expression of bafflement and looked up at her. "It's not there." She nodded in reply before a bright blue runic circle appeared underneath them.

"EEP!" Asuna let out a shriek of surprise, as she was suddenly teleported away from her friend. Closing his eyes, Naruto let one last thought cross his mind before he felt the effects of the force teleportation pick him up. _'Let the games begin then…onii-san.'_

And with that, he too, flashed away in blue light.

***-Town of Beginnings-***

Blue eyes opened in preparation as the blonde teen found that he had been teleported to the middle of the town square, along with 9,999 other people. Gritting his teeth, Naruto shoved his way to the center of the plaza and stared up at the big flashing screens that had the words **'Announcement' **flashing in red.

"Naruto!" He turned to see Asuna racing towards him with a look of panic and slight fear etched on her face. When she finally got to him, she hugged him in a deep embrace, looking for comfort at the strange turn of events that had taken place for a brief second, before pulling away and standing by his side, though not without a form of contact in the shape of holding hands.

All around them, 9,998 other people were voicing their concerns.

"What's going on?"

"What's happening? How did we teleport back here?"

"Why are we here?"

The panicking and frantic voices made the situation even worse for Asuna, but she glanced up to Naruto with strangely calm eyes.

_"_What's going on Naruto?" she mumbled out to him. "Has there been a game crash?"

Naruto winced internally. 'I wish it were that simple.' Not wanting to worry his friend with the truth yet, he came up with a lie.

"I don't know Asuna-chan," a small whirring could be heard above them, "But I have a feeling we are about to find out." With that he looked up, as did Asuna and all the other players.

Suddenly, blood-red liquid started to seep from the sky, causing many screams of distress. The liquid never hit the ground. Before it could even reach half-way downward, the liquid began to converge into a single solid mass shaped in the form of a ball, before that too changed into a blood-red cloak that covered the visage of a person.

Naruto's eyes narrowed at the display. _'You always were a sick, twisted, dramatic person Onii-san.'_

Whispers and mutterings could be heard from all over the plaza.

"Is that the game master?"

"Why doesn't he have a face?"

"Is this an event?"

A loud booming voice interrupted their questions.

**"Attention, players."** All eyes turned to the Grim Reaper avatar. **"I welcome you to my world. My name is Akihiko Kayaba."**

Naruto could practically hear the blinking of 9,999 pairs of eyelids at the proclamation. He had no doubt that many were shocked or in awe that they could meet Akihiko in person…virtually anyway. He just hoped they wouldn't be crushed by what was about to come.

**"And as of this moment, I am in control of this world."**

This drew many confused looks from all the surrounding players. So he could control this world. So what? Many though were still shell-shocked from meeting Akihiko that they couldn't speak. That was about to change. Kayaba started speaking again after the players calmed down a little, making sure everyone's attention was on him.

**"I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your Main Menus, the Log Out button." **

Mummers of agreement and confirmation sounded from all around Naruto and Asuna. All the small talk ended when a tense atmosphere rooted itself into the hearts of the many.

"**Let me assure you…this is no glitch. This…this is the true nature of Sword Art Online."**

Naruto growled at his brother's image. Asuna noticed but said nothing as the two of them went back to listening to Akihiko, who went further to explain of how he envisioned himself to be the 'God' of Aincrad.

So preoccupied, Naruto was, that he did not notice the disappearance of a handful of players.

Naruto, having heard enough, decided to start walking away, but stopped for two reasons. One being Asuna clutching his sleeve, the other being the words Akihiko spoke next.

**"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the Nerve Gear, an unfortunate decision, to say the least. As a result, the game now has 213 less players than when it began. In other words, they have been eliminated: from both Aincrad and the real world."**

Naruto froze mid-step as the words of his failure reached his mind. _'213? Gone already?' _An unbearable amount of rage enveloped Naruto, so engulfing was his rage that his rapier started to glow with an unholy amount of light, to which others moved away. The creator of Sword Art Online, heedless to the despair of his sibling, continued with his monologue.

"**Worry not, for I am nothing if not a gracious host. In your inventories, you shall find a special… "Gift" from me that will help you in this situation." **

Immediately, all the players, Naruto included, went into their inventory and pulled out, what looked to be, a small hand-held mirror, though Naruto noticed a few other materials in his, but decided to hold off on it until later. _'What the hell?' _Naruto thought. It was the first time even _he _had seen such an object.

Then the mirrors began to glow an eerie blue before all players were enveloped in a flash of light. Naruto noticed no noticeable difference with him or Asuna, but all around them, many players began to change.

The tall and buff became short and scrawny.

Gorgeous model-like girls became young scrawny teens with much acne on their faces.

The fit became fat and out of shape.

It was at that moment that apathetic gray eyes met raging blue eyes. **"As you can see, I have taken the liberty of revealing your true forms to those who will be playing along with you. This ends the tutorial of Sword Art Online. Good luck in surviving this world." **

And with that, all the screens and Akihiko vanished back out in a bloody display where the blood-like substance that formed him dispersed and retreated back into the cracks of the dome.

Silence and shock were all that remained from his presence before the dams broke. Many cries of outrage cried out into the darkening sky as the players all began to curse the Game God.

"Let us go!"

"You can't do this!"

"I have a family to go home to!"

All around Naruto, many voices screamed in anguish and fear as many became infuriated with this predicament. Turning quickly, not caring who saw him or his high-leveled abilities, he sprinted out of the Town of Beginnings, heedless to the cries of Asuna telling him to wait.

As he exited the town, his mind became consumed by his rage, causing him to speed to unimaginable proportions. A **Frenzy Wolf** then jumped in front of his way, a little down the path, and growled at him before sprinting at him in a collision course.

With a ferocious growl, Naruto ripped his rapier out of the wooden sheathe, destroying the wooden confinement in the process, and extended his rapier in front of his body, it glowing with a pure white hue of spectral energy making him a human-missile.

As the wolf grew closer and closer to his blade, blue eye flashed red and he sped further down the path, becoming nothing more than a fiery comet of white with streaks of crimson.

"**I swear this to you onii-san,"** the younger teen began in a slightly deepened voice. **"I may have failed to save 213 players, but I swear to you, no more will die. I will protect them all."** Memories of a kind black-haired kid entered his mind, as well as those of a helpful blue-haired man. The most prominent ones, however, that came to the forefront of his mind were those of a kind-hearted and beautiful girl with auburn hair and innocent amber eyes.

"**I swear," **his hand gripped the handle of his 'Beginning Rapier' so hard that it shattered slightly, before the wolf jumped in preparation to gut him. Naruto ignored the ferocious expression on its bloodthirsty face and sped up further. His 'Beginning Rapier' surged through the virtual predator as if it was paper. **"They are all going to survive."**

He stood stock still in the middle of the path, panting heavily due to the exertion put on his self. He looked up at his health bar to see it dwindled down to half full. He winced at the indicator before staring at his closed fist. _'I guess I have my work cut out for me. But even so, I'll work my ass off.' _

Clenching his fist, a fire burned into an inferno in his eyes before he stared up at the night sky of Aincrad. With a massive roar, he screamed his conviction in the air, hoping the one who had done all this was watching him right now.

"**THEY'RE ALL GOING HOME!"**

**A/N: **_So yeah, another story that has been rattling in this giant head of mine. Hope you guys like it. Remember, like, review, favorite, follow, and all that jazz. Be on the look out because winter break is coming up and I will try to update three of my other stories. I won't say which though. _


	2. First Floor

SAO: Shippuden

_**Disclaimer: **__I do not own Sword Art Online or Naruto. No matter how much I want to, I do not own these awesome story lines. _

"Speaking"

'_Thoughts'_

'Armor'

_**[Weapon]**_

_**Sword Skill**_

**Boss**

**A/N: **_Hi…bye. Hope you like._

Chapter 2: First Floor

It had been a month since the release of the hottest MMORPG game Sword Art Online…it had also been a month since 10,000 people were trapped in the virtual world of Aincrad, a huge floating castle that ascended a hundred floors. 2,000 people had died as a result of the death game so far, and right now, things were not getting much better for the remaining 8,000 as they have yet to clear Floor 1…

…but plans were being made to clear it.

It was in the Town of Beginnings, in the amphitheater, where such plans were being made: to move forward so as to clear the first floor.

As the first few dozen or so volunteers, who wanted to hear about the plan, filed into the circular theater, one dark haired individual sighed into his closed hands, as he looked around at all the people surging into the place.

Kirigaya Kazuto was just an average school-kid back in the real world. He was an honor roll student who never got into trouble and had a routine life. This routine was the exact reason he had decided to buy the game SAO, because in this world of blades, a single sword could take you anywhere you wanted to go. To discover that this game was all a ploy for a man to appease his Godly complex pummeled into Kirito, his online name, hard. He didn't get to ponder for any longer as a soft voice rang out beside him.

"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" Kirito turned to see a figure covered by a giant, brown, hooded cloak staring down at him. Because of the cloak, Kirito could not make out any defining features, but if the voice was anything to go on, he assumed that it was most likely a girl…or a very girly man.

In the audience, a blonde-haired man sneezed and shivered at the unexpected reminder of his old babysitter.

Realizing that the person was waiting for an answer, Kirito spoke.

"No. You can sit down if you want." With that said the figure nodded and promptly settled down onto the hard stone bench.

A few minutes later, a man in 'Light Metal Armor,' the best armor you could get on Floor 1 which covered his torso and shoulders, as well as a small shield strapped on his back and a long sword hanging by his side, appeared on the center stage, and looked out to the surrounding players.

"Alright, let's get started here, people! Thank you for coming here today! My name is Diabel, and the first thing you should know is that I like to consider my 'job' as Knight." He spoke in a smooth, light-hearted voice with a small smile plastered onto his face.

Quite a number of people laughed at the joke, as there was no job system implemented in Sword Art Online.

"Ha, there isn't any job system in here!"

"What are you talking about? Knight? Bwahhahaha!"

"Is this whole meeting a joke too?"

It took a couple of minutes, but eventually everyone got their nervousness out of their system. After the laughter eventually died down, Diabel immediately started speaking again, but in a more stern tone of voice.

"Let's get serious though," he said, which got the attention of quite of few people, "Today, my party found the entrance to the boss' room at the top of this tower." The atmosphere and mood of the crowd got more dark and heavy at the mention of this.

"We need to beat the boss to reach the second floor, and then tell the people in the Town of Beginnings that this game _can_ be cleared. Everyone here shares his duty. Don't you all agree?" A few murmurs spread through the meeting, but people began to nod their heads, and someone began to clap. All the others quickly followed the man's example and began to clap as well, Kirito included, but he was slower and calmer.

'_Something is off in his tone, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt for now Diabel-san.'_

After the clapping stopped, Diabel quickly told the players to get into groups or parties so that fighting the boss would be easier. Many started to bustle about, introducing themselves and forming parties. Not Kirito though. Even in real life, he was always an introverted person.

Glancing to the cloaked figure a few feet from him, he quickly half-shimmied, half-scooted himself to his or her position and tapped his or her shoulder. The hood on top of the person shifted to his direction meaning Kirito had gotten his or her attention.

"Hey," he started lamely, "do you want to form a party together?"

The cloaked person merely regarded him for a few moments before speaking in his or her distinctive female voice.

"Sure." She looked around for some reason and sighed. She then mumbled something which Kirito only heard a few parts.

"…Not here…separated…baka-yarou."

She then opened up her menu, clicked on the 'Group Invite' button, and sent it to Kirito. Kirito took the opportunity to learn of his new partner's name. _'Asuna? That's a nice name.'_

The blue-haired Diabel looked around with a smile on his face. _'We might actually have a chance at this.' _He thought. Clearing his throat, he resumed his speech.

"Does everyone have a party already?" the blue haired knight asked the gathering, hearing a mumble of agreement. He smiled at this, "Well then…" He was interrupted however by a loud voice with a heavy Kansai dialect that originated from the outer most ring of the coliseum.

"Wait a moment! Before we continue, there's something that has to be said!" Immediately, a new man jumped onto the stage and turned to face the crowd.

He was a cactus headed man with beady eyes and brown hair, wearing decent-level scale mail armor with a large long sword strapped to his back. Kirito's eyes immediately narrowed at the suspicious looking man.

"My name is Kibaou. What I want to say is that there are at least 10-15 people in this crowd that should apologize." He pointed dramatically to crowd, causing a spread of mutterings.

A sound of confusion sounded out from all over the arena as more and more players spoke out in bafflement.

"An apology?"

"To who?"

"From whom?"

From behind the cactus-haired man, Diabel's eyes narrowed in stern anger at the accusation.

"Can you elaborate Kibaou-san. I'm afraid that some of us don't understand who you are accusing and why you are accusing them." Diabel spoke kindly, but his narrowed eyes told a different story.

Kibaou did not seem to notice the sudden shift in the blue-haired man's behavior. He merely elaborated with a casually wave of his hand, the overlapping pieces of metal that made his armor clinking as he did so.

"Ha, isn't it obvious? Apologize to the 2000 now dead people. Those people, who had already played the game before, monopolized all the most important resources, selfishly advancing on their own while 2000 people died uselessly in the first month we were here! Isn't that right?" he ended with a sneer.

At that moment, the low buzzing in the forty people audience cut short. All went silent. What Kibaou wanted to say, everyone finally understood.

In the engulfing silence, only the evening BGM from the NPC orchestra played on through the silence. No one dared to say anything. If anything was said, then at that moment one might be labeled as one of 'those guys.' Such a fear was probably instilled in the forty or so players. No, not probably. It was there.

"Kibaou-san…" Diabel started with a dangerous tone of voice, startling the man with the Kansai dialect as he turned to look at the self-proclaimed knight. "…Are you perhaps referring to…the original Beta-testers?"

Beta-testers: a thousand individuals who had received an advanced copy of Sword Art Online and played the game to test for any anomalies or just too simply enjoy the game and get a feel for it.

"Obviously I am." With the thick metal pieces of his chain mail clinking over the leather he wore, Kibaou took a glance at the knight before continuing his speech unhesitant.

"Those beta testers," he growled out, "On the day this shitty game started, dashed from the Starting City and disappeared. They left behind over 9000 people who didn't know left from right." He turned in place as more and more people in the crowd grew angered.

"They monopolized good hunting grounds and profitable quests, got stronger without a care for those behind." He then thrust a pointer finger into the crowd and glared. "...There should be some in this group, hiding their beta status. Sly people thinking of joining the boss fight. I want them to kneel down at once to the party members their lives depend on. I also want the dirty bastards to fork over any high-level items they snatched up before any of us newbies got a chance to get them. That's what I want to say!"

By the end of his dialogue, Kibaou smirked. No one rose up to defend the Beta-testers. A seed of doubt had been planted. Just what he wanted, that is…

"Ah hah ha!"

Everyone, even the slightly panicking Kirito and hooded figure, turned to face the origin of the loud, boisterous, and cheerful laughter.

It was a young man, who had his hand braced against his stomach in what was no doubt pain from laughing too hard. No one could pick up any defining features as, like the person next to Kirito, the young man was wrapped in a bulky snow-white cloak with gold trim. His hood was pulled up, but one could clearly see the glowering azure eyes hidden in the shadows that contradicted the cheerful laughs that erupted from his mouth.

The laughter soon stopped, leaving an ominous silence in its place.

He swiftly stood from his seat, and calmly walked down to the stage, where he continued walking until he was directly in front of Kibaou, only inches away from him.

"Kibaou-san, what you mean to say is that many beginners died. You mean to say that it is because original Beta-Testers did not take care of them. You mean to say that you want them to accept that responsibility and apologize. Isn't that right?"

He spoke in an upbeat tone of voice, which unnerved the beady-eyed man. So much in fact that Kibaou took a step back. However, Kibaou quickly walked right up to him and shouted.

"Th... That's right! If they did not leave us behind, 2000 people would not have died! However, they are not just any 2000 people; most of them were other MMO top ranks or veterans! If those shitty testers properly shared information, items, and money, then there probably would have been 10 times the people here... no, by now we would have broken through the 2nd or 3rd floor!"

He indivertibly flinched and shut up at the slightest of twitches of the boy's hand, which merely went to his head and pulled down the heavy hood. Kirito heard a slight gasp of surprise from the figure next to him, but ignored it in favor of looking at the hooded man.

The hood revealed a blonde boy of around 17, with spiked hair with one noticeable large spike. He had lightly tanned skin and weird whisker-like scars that ran across his cheeks slightly, but he was still had a pleasant appearance. Raging blue eyes glared into Kibaou's beady black eyes.

"…"

"…You're a dumbass you know that?"

A tic mark grew on the Kansai man's forehead.

"Wh-what did you say?" Kibaou moved to grab the boy, but he was stopped by a fierce hand on his shoulder. He turned slightly and gulped at Diabel's ferocious expression.

"You were able to speak Kibaou-san," the self-proclaimed knight stated. "Give others the chance to do so as well."

Seething, Kibaou did so and backed off from the boy who nodded at Diabel.

"Thank you." The boy turned to face the crowd the same way Kibaou had, yet said nothing right off the bat.

Silence

That was all there was as the boy looked at each and every single player in the amphitheater. When he did speak, he had the attention of every single person.

"…do you honestly expect the testers to hold the hands of novices who outnumber them 9 to 1?" the heavily clothed teen asked with the same damnable cheerfulness in his voice.

Uproar started as soon as the boy attempted to defend the Beta-Testers. People were screaming down at him, hurling insult after insult until he roared himself.

"**BE SILENT!"** The masses hurriedly quieted. Such a bellow was frightening as the blonde teen had only been cheerful up to that point. Kirito was sweating slightly. Where does a 5'7" boy like him get a voice like that? Ignorant to the fearful thoughts running through out the crowd's head, the boy continued with his speech.

"Do you not think they too had fears? They probably thought they were testing a harmless game for the people of the world to enjoy. For the testers to find out that the game they all tested and loved was actually a sick and twisted prison for one man. How do you think they probably felt?"

He looked in the eyes of many, seeing turmoil taking place in every single one of them.

"While I cannot speak for the Testers, I can tell you how I felt. I was utterly terrified."

Hard blue eyes regarded the players in the amphitheater with an unrelenting gaze. "I had thought that this game was meant to be a fun, relaxing place where we didn't have to worry about anything except our enjoyment and the beautiful place that was Aincrad! For me to learn that it was a death game for a maniac. I'll tell you, I was disgusted and felt absolute revulsion for that monster. I can only imagine how the testers reacted. I also feel pity for the people who have lost their lives to what we thought was a game!"

The blue-eyed teen allowed for his words to sink in by giving a dramatic pause, before he continued.

"This isn't about those who died, however."

Before any one could speak out, he interrupted by raising his hand.

"It is about those who are left. It does not matter if we apologize to those who have died. They're dead. It is a sad and unfortunate fact, but it is still a fact."

He turned to face Kibaou, who looked like someone punched him in the gut. His attention soon returned to the assembled mass of people.

"Cursing out Beta-Testers won't bring them back." Reaching into his pocket, a small book with a brown leather cover was pulled out and shown to all the players. "For those of you who still believe that Beta-Testers did not try to help…" He shook the book a little to emphasize its importance. "This is a guidebook on tactics, sword skills, basic information on equipment, quests, grinding monsters, and everything else a beginner or newbie needs to know. And all those Beta-Testers you hate? They were the ones who compiled and gave out this information…for FREE."

He glared at the crowd with his eyes flaring in intensity.

"You accuse them of something with no proof. In the real world, that would be a court case immediately dismissed." He quickly regained himself and pocketed the book once more as he made his way back to his seat, but not without a few more choice words.

"And you think that alienating beta testers from the rest of the player population will help your cause to complete the 100 floors? Don't make me laugh." He turned back to the stage with his voice no longer the angry mutterings they were before. "Kibaou-san!"

He called out, gaining the attention of the cactus-haired man.

"The Beta-Testers have more experience and knowledge than all the non-beta testers combined. Allow me to be blunt. I think you are being very stupid." The blonde man then turned to walk away, but stopped short of the stairs and turned to look at Kibaou's beady eyes.

"…of the 2,000 people that have died, 750 of them were identified as Beta-Testers." A lot of gasps went around the theater at the statistic given. "If you can do the math right, that number is 75% of the whole populace of Beta-Testers." A lone blue eye regarded the cactus-haired man coldly as it looked over the man's armor. "I knew 20 of them on a personal level, so don't talk bad about them when they're dead, because unlike them…you're still here. And unlike you…they probably went down fighting." With that said the cloaked stranger walked up the stairs and left people to wonder about what he had said.

Kibaou didn't take this news graciously, but he knew he was defeated in the verbal competition. He sat back down on his seat, completely obliterated, and waited for the meeting to end.

The blonde in the white cloak sat back down as well. Kirito gave a small smile to the boy, completely not expecting for the teenager to glance back at him and nod with a beaming smile on his face. The player turned back to face Diabel, who had pulled out his own copy of the guidebook.

"Now that that debacle is over, shall we resume?" Diabel questioned. "The latest edition of the guidebook was just released and it contains information on how to defeat the boss." He began reading out loud.

"According to it, the name of the boss is Illfang the Kobold Lord. He is guarded by his assistants called Ruin Kobold Sentinels. He is armed with an ax and a buckler. He has four health bars and when the last one reaches red, he switches to a curved sword-type called a Talwar. His attack pattern changes as well to a more difficult pattern."

Many nodded in appreciation at the information given. Diabel smiled at the shift in attitude before he continued on with the reading.

"Lastly, items will be automatically distributed. EXP will go to the party who defeats the monster. Items will be kept by the player who receives them. Before we leave, does anybody have any questions?"

There was none. The blue-haired man smiled and waved good-heartedly.

"We leave tomorrow morning at ten! See you then!" Players started to get up to join their party members in conversation, though it was apparent that all of them were nervous about the upcoming battle. In fact, they were so nervous that no one noticed Diabel beckoning the strange player down to the stage, except for one.

Hazel eyes narrowed in slight anger at the sight of the blonde walking towards the blue-haired 'knight.'

'_Finally, I've found you.'_

***-After the Meeting-***

Blue eyes stared into blue eyes as two hard stares bore into each other. Naruto could only wonder what it was that Diabel wanted. That is until…

"…I was wondering when I would see you again, Kayaba." Even though Diabel spoke with a kind tone, his eyes spoke a different story. Naruto gulped a bit at his declaration. If the public had reacted to Beta-Testers like that, how would they react to him?

Seeing his expressions, Diabel put on a comforting smile.

"Don't worry Naruto-san. Your secret is safe with me." Naruto blanched at his declaration.

"Why? You know I am related to Akihiko, the one who trapped you all here. Shouldn't you want to try and get revenge?" Naruto asked with a cocked head and a clueless expression. Diabel gave a sad smile at the boy's statement.

"Mah Naruto-san, I've personally seen the way you handled yourself in the Beta, so I can say, without a doubt, that you are not going to harm anyone." Naruto gave a wide grin at his unprejudiced views before giving him a firm handshake.

"Arigatou then, Diabel-san." Diabel nodded in a polite gesture.

Diabel was about to tell him that he was happy to do it, but light footsteps towards the blonde swordsman shaking his hand made him look over said person's shoulder. Seeing the auburn demon stomping towards Naruto, Diabel promptly…turned about face, and walked away to his own party members. _'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.'_

Naruto frowned in both confusion and disappointment. _'Was he lying to me?' _Naruto closed his eyes and stuck out his lower lip in a comical pout, but froze as he heard a familiar voice clear its throat behind him.

Opening his eyes, he turned and looked around, not seeing anything but darkness in front of him, completely oblivious to the imminent danger regarding him.

Tap

"KYAH!"

Later in his life, Naruto would deny, vehemently, that he did not scream like a girl.

He turned to the direction of the hand, only to freeze in place as he felt the fear of hopelessness engulf him as he saw a dainty fist hurtling itself towards his face.

_**SMACK!**_

And with that, Naruto collapsed like a sack of potatoes. The figure then picked him up and dragged the teen across the arena floor as the figure walked out of the amphitheater.

…The fact that she took the stairs was not beneficial to the continuing health of one Naruto Kayaba. Diabel sweat dropped at both the scene and at Naruto's depleting health bar.

***-Outside the Theater-***

Naruto gave an 'oomph' of surprise as he was unceremoniously dropped flat on his ass by the irate cloaked figure in front of him. He gulped when said figure then gave off a malevolent aura that shadowed his or her entire body, marched up to him, and pulled him up.

SQUEEZE

"GAH!" Naruto exclaimed in surprise as the figure embrace him in a smothering hug, while unknowingly revealing her identity, as her hood flew off her head, to the gathering crowd of players who had become interested at the spectacle.

Many jaws dropped and many eyes widened at the sight before them.

Long auburn hair cascaded along the expanse of her slim figure to her lower cloak-covered back. A soft feminine voice making soft mutterings at the blonde player and a modest figure immediately told everyone that this, this angel was one of the few female players.

Asuna did not care for, or pay attention to, the stares she was receiving. She paid no attention to the lustful eyes staring at her. She did not care about the lecherous comments being said about her. Nor did she care about how everyone was whispering rumors about her. All she cared about was the man in front of her, calmly rubbing her upper back in a soothing gesture.

Naruto was stunned into silence. He knew that when he would run into the girl in his arms, there would be a chance that she would have an extreme reaction to seeing him again after he abandoned her during their travels. This was not what he was expecting. Her next few words did not help either.

"Baka," she whispered into his chest, "baka-yarou. Next time, take me with you. Don't make me fret over my only friend in this hell."

With every word, Asuna's voice broke up more and more. The teen draped in a white cloak could only nod and rub her cheek with his thumb. Neither knew how or when this happened, but in the matter of a few weeks, each had become the others' most precious person.

They finally broke apart after a substantial amount of cuddling, though both would refuse to call it such. Finally taking in their surroundings, tomato-red blushes donned their cheeks at the gawking faces of forty or so other players.

Wanting to make an escape, Asuna glanced around and saw the black-haired boy in cloth armor she had spoken to earlier, sitting on a bench alone while eating bread that was sold at the vendors. She felt somewhat saddened by the sight. Grasping her friend's hand, tightly he might add she proceeded to drag him to the boy.

"May we join you?" a feminine voice interceded Kirito's attention. Looking up and seeing his other party member dragging the blonde from earlier, he smiled slightly.

"Sure. Take a seat." Pulling up next to him, the two looked at his piece of bread funnily, before looking back at him.

"Don't you get tired of the taste of that quickly?" Asuna asked gently. Kirito smiled at her question before shaking his head lightly.

"Yeah, but," he quickly swiped into his inventory, which caused a small jar to land in his hands, "I do like to change things up a bit now and then." He then opened the jar and dipped the bread into it, causing a small dab of the substance to become partially covered in a yellowish paste.

Asuna eyed it in wonder. "Cream!" she exclaimed

Kirito smiled and offered another two loaves to her and Naruto while also offering up the cream jar. Asuna happily took the bread and cream, but Naruto shook his head, but not in a way that might be perceived as rude.

He plucked Asuna's other hand in his, much to her secret enjoyment, and pointed to a small stone house in the distance. He then proceeded to walk towards the location, Asuna still holding his hand, and gestured for Kirito to follow.

"Come on. I got something even better than creamed bread; it's one of the perks of exploring this place in the first couple of weeks." The teen jovially said.

Seeing no harm in following a complete stranger (nice job Kirito) the black-haired teen stood and followed the pair to the distant house. As they approached the stone dwelling, Kirito couldn't help but chuckle at the chestnut-haired girl's next words.

"You better have a shower in this place."

***-A Little While Later-***

Kirito gave a small burp of satisfaction at the food he had just consumed. _'Guy was right, that was much better than bread.' _In front of him, rested upon an oak wood table, was a plethora of home cooked food like roast beef, mashed potatoes, okra, fried chicken, and much more.

Looking across the table, Kirito gazed at his other party members with a puzzled expression. It was clear that the two knew each other from previous encounters if the way Asuna was looking at him was any indication.

Looking at them, Kirito couldn't help but feel like the odd one out of the bunch. The way the two acted with each other, Kirito could plainly see the underlying affection before him. Deciding to be rid of the rather uncomfortable atmosphere, Kirito spoke.

"Excuse me Naruto-san…" He was interrupted by the blonde swordsman with a frantic shake of the hand.

"Please Kirito, no honorifics in here." He leaned in conspiratorially with his hand cupping his mouth. "It makes me feel old." He faux whispered.

Kirito smiled before nodding. "Ok Naruto." Naruto nodded, satisfied with the reply before leaning back into his chair. He then struck up a conversation with the blonde-haired host. Before Kirito knew it, it was well past 10:30 and he grew tired. He thought to ask for a place to sleep, but he thought against it as it would seem rude, but Naruto beat him from dismissing the thought.

"So," Naruto began, "what were you saying Kirito-kun?" Naruto smiled good-naturedly.

"I was just wondering if you had a spare guest-room so that I may sleep." Kirito asked bashfully. He did not feel totally comfortable with asking someone for a bed. It just did not work that way, so when Naruto pointed him in the direction of a decent sized bedroom, he gazed back out of the hallway with a smile. _'What a nice guy.' _

Oh if only he knew.

Once the black-haired youth left the room, Asuna turned towards Naruto.

"Ok, I know there is only one guest bedroom in this house." Brown eyes bore into sapphire blue. "Where am I going to sleep? I sure as hell won't sleep on the floor."

Naruto only smiled tiredly before gesturing to the only other bedroom in the house.

"Take mine." Asuna blinked before glaring once again. Did this guy seriously just do what she think he just did?

"I can't do that, it's your bed."

Standing up from his chair, picking up his equipment, and heading towards the door, Naruto still kept that damn smile on his face. Turning towards the still confused girl, he gave a shrug.

"Use my room Asuna. Go ahead. Read, sleep, eat, take a shower, do anything you want." A fire burned in his eyes as he returned his gaze to the darkening sky out the door. "I don't plan on getting sleep tonight," At her confused face, he shrugged good-naturedly and walked to the wooden door.

With that, the blonde Kayaba left out the door, into the night to do some last minute cramming of EXP.

***-A Few Areas Away-***

"HAH!" Blue pixels exploded into the air as a scarlet blade careened a **Dire Wolf **in two.

All around the massive clearing that lied in the middle of the woods stood no less than 20 **Dire Wolves (Level 5- 10**), each snarling dangerously to the lone player in the middle of their hunting circle.

Blue eyes flashed red, sword shining with a crimson light, before said player flashed out of sight and cut down two more **Dire Wolves**, gaining another level in the process. Quickly glancing at his status bar, Naruto Kayaba winced as he saw his health in the red, though he did smirk at his new [Level 17] stat.

He flipped backwards onto his armored glove covered hands to dodge the lunge of another **Dire Wolf** before quickly slashing downward with his weapon. Turning to see the rest of the pack, he gripped the hilt of his rapier tightly, before charging into the fray with a guttural war cry. As he utterly decimated the mobs, he could not help but take a glance at the weapon in his hand.

The weapon itself was a cheat, since if anyone who were to look at its stats would merely gawk at the high-level traits of the weapon. An exotic scarlet blade with intricate gold runes adorned the thicker than average blade of the rapier. A silvery feather themed cross guard with a silver wing knuckle guard gave the elegant weapon a truly majestic look as the blonde player hacked and pierced the many mobs that surrounded him, conjuring the image of a black-winged angel.

_**[Rhapsody]**_, the gift from his brother, hummed in Naruto's hand as he twirled and danced around the frenzy of spawns. A few moments later, once the clearing was absent of **Dire Wolves**, an enraged howl pierced the night as Naruto started making his way back home.

Pausing, Naruto took a moment to calm his virtual body before turning towards the shuffling of leaves. Red eyes met blue. Blue eyes then regarded the name and level of the new mob.

**Dire Wolf Alpha (Level 20)**

Instead of the usual bolded black letters of regular mobs, the name was displayed with red characters: a rare spawn.

Carefully getting onto his knees, Naruto pulled out a Healing Potion from his inventory, the wolf regarding his action as he did so and vice versa. Drinking the potion, Naruto's Health Bar pinged as his red bar quickly filled until it was full again.

Seeing that the player was ready, the **Dire Wolf Alpha **bared its teeth and let out a guttural growl, its claws, and fangs starting to glow a sickly purple and venom green. Blue eyes flashed red and soon Naruto was growling deeply as well. All was quiet in the clearing as a soft wind whistled through the open field.

Then, with a silent alarm, both entities charged at one another, one bounding with powerful movement, the other breezing along the ground in an elegant charge. Teeth bared, sword extended, glowing, red eyes met red in the center, and soon…no more was heard throughout the prairie.

A loud howl pierced the night.

***-Stone Haven-***

Hazel eyes opened slowly as the morning light crept into the cozy and warm room. Blinking blearily, Asuna regarded her surroundings, before stuffing her face back into the pillow, deeply taking in _his _scent. She gave a small smile as his scent reached her senses, reminding her of the times he had helped her in the beginning.

She sat up fully on the bed when she heard a shuffling on the other side of the door. The door creaked open softly, and in popped in the head of the man she had in her thoughts. She gave a small gasp at his appearance and her dainty hand covered her mouth in surprise.

Looking worse for wear, with bloodshot eyes and many scratches adorning the parts of his face she could see, Naruto looked like the very definition of 'to-hell-and-back.' However, despite all this, he still had his goofy and optimistic smile in place.

"Hey Asuna-chan," he said happily, "Kirito and I are making breakfast." She blinked and then remembered that Kirito was the name of the person from last night. "We meet the Clearing party at 10:00, so you should freshen up before we go out to see them." With his piece said, Naruto made to go out the door, but Asuna just about materialized in front of him before yanking him inside the room.

Naruto blinked in surprise, but his eyes softened when he saw Asuna looking him over in horror. He had left most of his spare equipment in this very room, so he did not have the chance to swap out his ruined armor before Asuna saw him. What was once a pristine white cloak was now a mangled piece of bloodied white cloth, revealing the even more mangled orange armor pieces that had once protected him.

Gazing into her eyes, Naruto softly grabbed her hands into his own larger ones and smiled comfortingly at her.

"I'm fine…you don't have to worry." Asuna only nodded dumbly, still in a daze from seeing her seemingly invincible friend in such a state. She gingerly reached up to graze his ruined left cheek, to which he winced and hissed at, before trailing down to his ruined armor. She glared accusingly at him.

He chuckled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Heh ran out of potions last night." She gave an even more smoldering glare at this tidbit of information. Before she could capitalize on her anger however, a knock on the closed door broke them out of their private moment.

"Asuna-san, Naruto-san, breakfast is ready." Kirito's voice sounded from behind the oak door.

The two glanced at each other and smiled before Naruto turned and strode to the door. Turning to give her one last smile, he gave a thumb up and left the room.

***-First Floor Boss' Room-***

CLANG

Diabel's long sword stuck into the ground as he gazed at the forty or so brave souls that had joined him. All had weary and nervous looks on their faces, but there was an undeniable determination building in their expressions.

'_First Bosses are always the hardest.' _He thought briefly. Giving them once last run through, he hurriedly gave them a review of what the strategy was and locked eyes with a certain blonde gamer. He nodded before he spoke once more, surprising the players there.

"…I'm not one for motivational speeches and all, but I am going to say this." Everyone stood still, waiting in silence. "…This is what everybody else needs." Diabel saw the confused looks he got, so he decided to elaborate. "Look around you. There are only forty of us. Should we fall today, let us hope that our sacrifice is what drives others to carry on. Today, we are not strangers." A murmur of agreement rang out. "Today, we are not gamers." A louder cry rose up. "Today, we are fighters. So…fight for the right to live! Fight for the person standing next to you! Fight for everyone trapped in this hell hole!"

After his final exclamation, a burst of morale spread throughout the ragtag team of fighters like a wildfire. As Diabel stepped back into his position, Naruto walked next to him and gave a small smirk. Diabel raised one blue eyebrow, making the smirk widen even further.

"Not one for motivational speeches eh?" Diabel lightly punched the rapier-user lightly in the shoulder in response. Naruto merely chuckled at the hit, before his eyes narrowed darkly. Diabel stepped forward to the heavy metal doors and gave a light push.

They swung open ominously, revealing a dark chamber. Narrowing his eyes, the self-proclaimed 'knight' took a chance, and stepped forward.

…all hell broke loose.

As soon as the paladin set foot in the room, many torches lit, providing an iridescent glow to the room. A huge rumbling then started, emanating from the center of the room. As it approached the small group, many players drew out their weapons ranging from daggers, swords, rapiers, axes, and all other sorts of bladed weapons. Many tensed as the rumbling grew closer and closer. Shields rose and many fell into sloppy but firm stances. Then all of a sudden…

…the rumbling stopped.

Many grew confused. Was this a trick? Was there actually no First Floor boss? However, Naruto knew better, so with caution in his mind, he began to draw closer to the center of the room, with Diabel giving him one last look of warning.

Quietly and carefully placing one foot in front of the other, Naruto approached the door to the Second Floor cautiously, many behind him watching with baited breaths. Asuna trembled horribly next to Kirito in fear of her friend, but after awhile of nothing happening, everyone took a calming breath and breathed out.

A giant red hand burst from under the stone floor near Naruto, quickly grasping his surprised form and began to close around him, effectively crushing the warrior. The blonde-haired gamer gave a yelp of both surprise and agony as the large appendage crushed under many pounds of pressure.

Back at the door, many of the armored gamers gave a shout of surprise, some even jumping back towards the now shut doors. Diabel had his eyes widened in fear as a large hulking figure emerged from the floor.

**Illfang the Kobold Lord**. A red cursor appeared near its name, showing that it was the boss.

The monstrosity stood at over two meters tall. It was grotesquely muscular and was mostly a blood-red color with blue-grey accents. Bloodthirsty, copper-red eyes glared maliciously at the group of players before they returned to the one in its beefy hand. In its other hand was a large bone axe with an additional weapon in the form of a leather shield to attack. Four glowing green HP bars appeared near its head as it gave a truly blood-lusted roar at Naruto, who gave a cry that indicated pure excruciating pain.

All around the hulking Illfang, blue lights emerged, materializing into **Ruin Kobold Sentinels (Levels 15-18).** Brought out of his reverie by the pained cries of the blonde, Diabel brought up his sword and thrust it forward.

"ATTACK!" Given the order, many players surged forward to engage the **Ruin Kobold Sentinels**, most prominent being Kirito, Asuna, and Agil-a tall man with chocolate brown skin- as they rushed to save their friend.

Naruto's body burned with pain. He heard the tell-tale signs of cracking ribs and gave another yell as he felt three of them break. His vision started going hazy, which got worse as **Illfang **started to engage the players who strode forward to attack. Massive amounts of G-force racked his neck and body as he was carelessly flung all over the chamber, being used to club to try and discourage the other players.

Deciding that he did not like this position at all, Naruto grasped tightly on to his _**[Gold Rapier] **_and sliced down as hard as he could onto the boss' fingers. He easily managed to dismember the fingers and freed himself from the vice-grip of the monster.

He landed on the ground, but with his HP bar in the red and his status affliction, he landed roughly and collapsed on the ground in a crumpled heap. Reaching into his inventory while Groups A-C distracted the boss, Naruto pulled out a [Health Potion] and quickly downed it. Immediately his ribs mended and he was back in the green.

Rising quickly, he rushed forward to help the groups fighting the monstrous beast. Out of the corner of his eyes, he smiled as he saw Asuna and Kirito easily take care of the **Kobold Sentinels **before he refocused on rushing two of the same spawns from slashing at the unprotected backs of players engaged in fights.

Getting into his favorite Sword Art initial form, his _**[Gold Rapier] **_burst into metallic crimson light as he performed the _**Pierce **_Sword Art, which entailed him thrusting his arm out in front of his body, piercing, not one, but two **Kobold Sentinels **easily.

After two more hours of fighting, Naruto, Asuna, and Kirito cut down the last of their **Ruin Kobold Sentinels**, and risked a glanced at **Illfang's **HP bar and saw it was down to the last third of its final HP bar. That's when it happened.

**Illfang's **eyes seemed to glow an even darker red, before it let loose an ear-shattering roar and threw away its _**[Bone Axe] **_and _**[Leather Buckler]**_. Naruto smirked and got ready. He had just the thing to-

"Everyone get back! I'll handle this!"

Naruto's eyes widened at Diabel's voice. He turned and saw the blue-haired knight rush out of formation and charge up a Sword Art. His HP bar was in the yellow, so Naruto saw no reason not to let him carry on. He, of course, knew that Diabel wanted the Last Hit bonus that one would receive for inflicting the last hit on the boss, but there was no reason to argue…until Naruto and Kirito saw it.

**Illfang **reached behind it to draw a curved sword, which was in the Guide Book, but the one thing that they weren't counting on was the weapon.

A _**[Nodachi]**_. Quickly realizing their mistake, Naruto called out to Diabel, the same time Kirito was.

"Wait, that isn't a _**[Talwar]**_/ it's a _**[Nodachi]**_!" The two swordsmen called out in hopes of drawing the man back.

It was too late.

They could do nothing but watch as the **Kobold Lord** jumped into the air with frightening speed and proceeded to jump around on all of the white pillars, confusing Diabel, allowing it to jump in with its glowing red sword already in a slashing motion.

The sword crashed in front of the blue-haired knight, pushing him into the air, where the red monster then performed a three hit combo, draining the HP of the knight, sending him flying back to hit a wall, and landing in a crumpled heap.

Naruto stood…numb to everything as fights raged on all around him as he stared at the broken body of Diabel. Numb was he as Kirito quickly slid to kneel beside the man, drawing out a [Health Potion], but was stopped by the dying man. He saw them discuss something, but he ignored that in favor of watching the man turn light blue in color…then shatter into a million tiny pixels.

…

…

Blue eyes flashed red as Naruto replaced his _**[Gold Rapier] **_for his very own unique weapon: the _**[Rhapsody]**_. Turning fiercely towards the hideous red best that had taken Diabel's life, Naruto dashed ahead, heedless to the cries of everyone else, the most prominent being Asuna, as he charged the boss.

_Th-thump_

_Th-thump_

His heart hammered with adrenaline as he rushed towards the boss, who simply raised its _**[Nodachi] **_high in the air and brought it down. Naruto sidestepped, and lunged back with _**[Rhapsody] **_extended.

_Stab_

_ROAR_

**Illfang **roared with pain as Naruto _drove _his crimson rapier into the stomach of the beast. Eyes glowing with rage, both player and boss stepped forward and started to slash at each other's blades. For each downward strike the** Kobold Lord **made, Naruto parried with his own in an upward arc. For each upward slash the **Kobold Lord **made, Naruto responded with a massive downward hit, channeling all his anger and hatred into his sword, which still shone with an ethereal crimson light, which rapidly turned black with a crimson outline, shocking many who watched the spectacle.

It didn't matter how much damage the boy took; it didn't matter that his burnt orange armor plates fell off as he struck back at the monster; he kept slicing at the monster that stood in the way of completing this death game. Red eyes burned with an unrivaled fury as a simple mantra began in Naruto's head.

_Faster_

His blades moved even faster to parry all the boss's attacks.

_Stronger_

With each hit, he swung with even more ferocity.

_Faster_

Now all the players could see was a crimson streak.

_Stronger _

Sparks flew from the clashing metals.

_FASTER_

No longer could they see a metal blade, only a streak of crimson light.

_STRONGER_

Shockwaves permeated around the two combatants as their blades clashed, an intense expression appearing in Naruto's raging red eyes.

With one final clash, where Naruto put all of his might into the swing, he disarmed the boss, shocking both it and the crowd of players behind him. He leapt backwards then, confusing and distressing many of the players as they called out for him to finish off the boss before it could recover, but their remarks silenced as an unearthly black and crimson glow overtook the boy's blade.

Blue eyes flashed a dark crimson.

"**GETSUGA…"**

He brought up his blade over his head in the direction of the retreating **Kobold Lord**, and shouted his move to the heavens.

"**TENSHOU!"**

He swung his blade down once more with all his might, releasing a dark blade of energy in the shape of a crescent moon. It raced towards the monster, which had turned around and could only stare at its demise.

With one final roar of protest, the crescent blade of energy converged on **Illfang the Kobold Lord**…until its final blue pixels scattered to the virtual winds, leaving behind a single message.

_**CONGRATULATIONS! BOSS CLEARED!**_

Silence

That was all anybody heard as the group of players stared at the stock-still boy in front of them. Murmurs began. They grew to normal room volume. They grew even more to shouts of disbelief. They grew until everyone was shouting and tearing up in joy.

"WE DID IT!"

"WE CLEARED THE FIRST FLOOR!"

All around the empty battlefield, many hugged the person closest to them with tears filling their eyes. They had done it.

However, not everyone was celebrating.

Hazel eyes regarded the frozen boy who had yet to come out of the pose he had used to finish off the boss. Asuna approached her friend, her chestnut hair cascading down her back, carefully, as not to startle him. When she was only inches from him, she reached out and touched hi shoulder.

"Naruto-kun? Are you ok?"

He didn't reply.

Frowning, she made her way around the boy to see his face. She gave a cry of pain and surprise.

Many looked over to see the only female player of the group start to burst into tears as she drew the boy who had defeated the boss in her arms, collapsing to her knees. Immediately, everyone rushed to see what had happened, none as fast as Agil or Kirito, who looked on in worry over their friend.

As they reached the hysterical girl, many let out similar shouts of surprise. Kirito looked on with frozen eyes that had widened to drastic proportions. Agil narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth.

For, in Asuna's caring arms, Naruto gazed out at them…absolutely dead to the world, with his HP bar reading:

0/ 3,504

**A/N: **_Anyway, hope you guys enjoy this update. I apologize if it isn't up to standards, but I tried to get this out earlier than usual as an apology for my missed deadlines the past coupled of months._

_Now if you didn't notice, this will be NarutoXAsuna pairing since I think it has potential and because there aren't too many of these out there. Kirito will be paired up with someone, but I won't say whom. Anyway…_

_Ja Ne! ^_^_


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